Maidstone Hockey Club chairman Roger Daniels stands down after 16 years at the helm

Long-serving Roger Daniels has stood down as Maidstone Hockey Club chairman – a year after the incident that convinced him it was time to go.

The club celebrated Mr Daniels’ 16 years in charge at their end-of-season awards night on Saturday and he is succeeded by Matt Evans, the man who came to his rescue 12 months ago.

Mr Daniels, who remains the club’s finance manager, said: “It was the awards dinner last year and I lost my voice. I just couldn’t say a word – I was dumbstruck.

“Matt took over and did a good job and that was the opening for me to ask if he fancied the job permanently.

“I was 48 when I became chairman and I’m 64 now. To run two roles in the club concurrently was a major claim on my time and by concentrating on one job rather than two, the power of the club increases.

“If you hang on too long, it reaches a point when you are pushed. To go now is good for me and good for the future of the club."

Mr Daniels oversaw the building of the new clubhouse at Armstrong Road and was chairman when his daughter Lizzie scored the goal that earned the ladies’ 1sts promotion to the National League.

He added: “I vividly remember the day the ladies reached the National League and with a lot of emotion and pride, not least because Lizzie scored the equaliser against Canterbury that was enough to go up.

“The crowning moment of my time as chairman has to be the new clubhouse. It was fully-funded by members which, at £600,000, took some doing. To preside over that was a pretty major thing.”